The Finance Committee of the Livingston County Board met Wednesday evening to hear information about a proposed levy amendment for the mental health boards.

Carol Flessner, executive director of the Livingston County Mental Health Board, along with employees connected with the programs in Livingston County, as well as representatives from the Livingston County Jail, approached the committee asking that the original levy that was proposed and voted down by the board at its November monthly meeting, be reconsidered.

The motion for the original levy, which was for a 4.9 percent increase, the same or near what it was for previous years, was given a new motion at the meeting, freezing the funds at the 2012 level.

Flessner said that she’s been very conscious of the spending her department has been doing and that the balance that shows in December doesn’t count the contracts that she is bound to pay throughout the department’s year, which includes $20,000 for startup costs for drug court, which is slated to begin in early 2013, and services to Futures Unlimited, the Institute for Human Resources and the Livingston County Jail, which Jail Superintendent Bill Cox attested to at the meeting.

“When they come in our facility, we’re not set up as a mental health facility. What happens is we end up taking them to the hospital. We had two recently. One individual cost us $29,000 and the next one cost about the same. These can add up very quickly and that’s only for a two- or three-night stay,” Cox explained. “You can see how that can add up extremely quickly.”

Cox explained that, while inmates are at the hospital, officers are required to be present with them at all times, which also racks up overtime in that department. When those inmates are at the jail, they are kept in a special cell in the booking area, which has to be supervised by an officer, also. That officer is pulled from another area in the jail, thus making that area short staffed, possibly causing a security issue.

While there were many arguments about why the levy should be amended for the mental health board, some board members pointed out that the mental health board has worked with a “cushion” and never depletes its funds, so they didn’t understand why Flessner was asking for more money. Board member Mark Runyon asked if this request was being made to make up for the 20 percent decrease in funding from the state, to which Flessner said it would help, but not cover completely. He said he didn’t think it was fair for the taxpayers of the county to pick up where the state left off.

After a lengthy discussion, the committee voted to pass the information with no recommendation to the full board, which meets Dec. 20.